27/08/2015 06:12 AST
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received a Qatari private sector delegation led by Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Thani Al Thani, Chairman of Ezdan Group Holding, at the presidential palace in Ankara. At the meeting, the Qatari private sector leaders and the Turkish President discussed the ways to promote and open bigger opportunities for Qatari investors and businessmen in Turkey. They also talked about the prospects of investment opportunities in various trade activities and sectors of the Turkish economy as well as opportunities for the private sector in the both countries.
During the meeting, The Turkish President praised the level reached by the bilateral economic cooperation between the two countries. He stressed the need for further bolstering the private sectors in both countries through joint investments.
Among others who attended the meeting from Turkish side was Turkish President’s Senior Adviser Safar Touran, and President of the World Trade Center in Istanbul Arda Ermont. Besides Sheikh Dr Khalid, the Qatari panel included Abdul Basit Ahmed Al Sheibi, CEO of Qatar International Islamic Bank; and Ali Abdul Rahman Al Hashmi, CEO, International Investment Company.
On the sidelines of the event, the Turkish President presented a copy of the Holy Quran, written by using the Ottoman calligraphy, to Sheikh Dr Khalid in addition to a special version of his book “Vision of World Peace,” and a rare edition of “Jerusalem Through Pictures - Past and Present.”
Ezdan Holding Group is one of the largest investment groups in Qatar with its huge real estate portfolio, giant financial investments in Islamic banking and Takaful insurance companies, health care and media, among others. Ezdan Holding Group won several international awards, the recent one being named by Forbes as “ The Best Qatari Group in Investment Diversification 2015”. The Group has also won a series of accolades, including finding its place in top Arab and international ranking lists as ‘most powerful and influential companies’ in terms of the size of investments.
The trade volume between Qatar and Turkey is amounted to about $1.5bn, a rise from $800m in 2014. For years, the Qatari-Turkish relations has been witnessing significant growth in various fields. The Qatari investments in Turkey are in the second place in terms of size, which exceeds $20bn. The Qatari investments have its major focus on Turkey’s agriculture, tourism and real estate sectors.
Turkish officials have expressed growing interest in investing in Qatar, where there are about 60 major Turkish companies operating currently in the Qatari market, and about 150 small companies operating in the contracting, electronics and trade fields. These companies are currently implementing several projects in Qatar worth about $14bn, most of which has been awarded during the last ten years.
According to the latest statistics on economic cooperation between Qatar and Turkey, the investments volume of Turkish companies in Qatar has reached up to about $7bn. President of The Turkish Contractors Association (TCA), Emin Sazak said recently that the new Turkish investments in Qatar could touch between $25-30bn over the next ten years, in the infrastructure facilities development ahead before the FIFA World Cup to be hosted by Qatar in 2022. The size of Turkey’s exports to Qatar has grown 200 percent during the past two years to hit the $1.2bn mark.
The Peninsula
Please wait...
